Signature stitching machine



Sept. 27, 1932.. E. w. BELLUCHE SIGNATURE STITGHING MACHINE 3Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan. 29, 1930 Sept. 27, 1932. E. w. BELLUCHE 1,879,4@

SIGNATURE STITCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept.27, 1932. w, E E i,79,@4@

SIGNATURE STITCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Patented Sept. 27, 1932 .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELMEB W. BELLUCHE,OF RACINE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB TO CHRISTENSEN MACHINE COMPANY, OFRACINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN SIGNATURE STITCEINGMACHINE Application filed January 29, 1930. Serial 1%. 424,266.

having a moving belt or plurality of belts.

onto which the signatures are discharged and which is intermittentlyadvanced upon each operation of the delivery mechanism to carry thesignatures which are deposited thereon one above the other in staggeredrelation forwardly to suitable receiving means. It is, of course,desirable that the pile of books on the table be maintained even andcontinuous,

, but heretofore no means has been provided for regulating the drive ofthe delivery table belt or belts and as signatures are not alwaysdischarged upon each successive cycle of operation, this has beenimpossible.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to co-ordinate the driveof the delivery table conveyer belts with the delivery mechanism per seso that it functions only when a signature is actually discharged.

Another objection toexisting delivery mechanisms was the lack of meansfor tim ing the advance of the delivery table belts, to accommodatesignatures of different widths. It is obvious that narrow books arecompletely discharged onto the delivery table belts quicker than booksof greater width, and as no means of regulating the time of feed of thedelivery table belts was provided, difliculty was encountered inmaintaining the proper cooperation between the rate of discharge of thebooks from the delivery mechanismper se and the movement of the deliverytable belts.

It is, therefore, another object of this in-- vention to provide a noveland simplified means for regulating the time of operation of thedelivery table belts together with means for regulating the amount offeed. With this structure, it is possible to at all times have the bestoperating condition, or in other words, to have the feed forthe tablebelts begin just as the tail edge of the book leaves the deliverymechanism.

Another objectional feature of delivery mechanisms heretofore in usewith signature stitching machines, is the fact that when rather thickbooks are handled, there is a tendency for the book to follow thedischarge rollers and turn under, due to the angle of the deliverytapes, and to overcome thls objection the present invention contemplatesas another of its objects the provision of means for readily adjustingthe discharge angle of the delivery tapes so that the mechanism ma beadjusted to efliciently handle books of di ferent thicknesses.

In connection with the discharge of the books it is also an object ofthis invention to provide means for holding the free ends of the booksdown so that the discharging signatures are thrown on top of, ratherthan between, the .covers of the books already on the delivery table.

A more specific object of this invention resides in the provision ofmeans controlled by the passage of signatures therepast during theirnormal discharge from the machine, for

controlling the operation of the delivery table With the above and otherobjects in view,

which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides inthe novel construction, combination and arrangement of partssubstantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined bythe appended claims, it being understood that such changes in theprecise embodiment of the herein-disclosed invention may be made as comewithin the scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one complete example ofthe physical embodiment of my invention constructed according to thebest mode I have so far devised for the practical application of theprinciples thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a delivery mechanism fora signature o 66, and

v Figure 3 is an enlarged detail front view of the structure shown inFigure 2;

Figure 4 is a view somewhat similar to Figure 2 with the parts inanother position and with portions broken away to illustrate structuraldetails;

Figure 5 is a detail, sectional view taken through Figure 1 on the planeof the line Figure 6 is a cross sectional view taken through Figure 5 onthe plane of the line Figure 7 is a fragmentary, detail view takenthrough Figure 1 on the plane of the line Referring now moreparticularly to the accom anying drawings, in which like numeralsesignate like parts throughout the several views, numerals 5 and 6represent the end or supporting walls of a delivery mechanism for usewith a conventional signature stitching machine or the like, and betweenwhich the delivery mechanism per se is mounted. As this invention isdirected only to the delivery mechanism, no part of the signaturestiching machine is shown but reference may be had to Patent No.1,351,231 for a typical illustration of a machine with which thestructure of this invention may be used. l

As is well-known, the signatures after heing stitched are conveyed alonga saddle structure '7, indicated by dotted lines in Figures 2 and 4,until they are wholly between the walls 5 and 6 and in line with thedelivery mechanism mounted therebetween. A tucker blade 8 then elevatesthe signature upwardly between a'delivery roll 9 consisting of aplurality of pulleys constantly rotating on a shaft 10, and deliverytapes lltrained over the pulleys 9 and traveling in unison there-' with.

The signature-is gripped between thepulleys and their cooperatin ta s 11and carried upwardly and forwar 1y to be discharged onto a deliverytable, indicated gen erally by the numeral 12.

The tapes 11, as is customary, are trained about lower pulleys 13, upperidler pulleys 14 by which they are maintained under the proper degree oftension, and over forward pulleys which in the present instance arereplaced by an adjustable shaft 15, to be later described.

Thedelivery table 12 consists of side supporting bars 16 which havetheir inner ends hingedly connected with the walls 5 and 6 in anysuitable manner, as by a shaft 17 which extendsaoross the distancebetween the walls 5 and 6 and has its end portions The outer ends of thebars 16 are connected by a roller 21.whose medial portion,'like that ofthe shaft 17 is provided with a plurality of belt recelving-pulleys inline with the pulleys 19, and whose ends are journaled in bearmgs formedin sliding bearing blocks 22. The blocks 22 have outwardly extendingspaced flanges between which the side arms 16 are slidably received, andare rigidly connected by a shaft 23 whose ends are clamped in suitablesplit bearings 24 formed in the outer portions of the blocks 22.

Tie rods 25 also extend between the side bars 16 to maintain them inproper spaced relation and the outermost bar 25 forms a support againstwhich tensioning screws 26 carried by the blocks 22 abut to providemeans for forcing the blocks and consequently the roller 21 outwardly totighten the endless belts 27 trained about the pulleys of the shaft 17and the roller 21.

The belts 27 form the work receivin surface of the delivery table and ifdesire may be replaced by a single belt sufliciently wide to extendacross the entire width of the table. However, it has been found thatseparated belts are more easily maintained in proper alignment. Tosupport the medial-portion of the belts 27, a plate 28 extends acrossand is secured to the tie rods 25. v

The signatures, as they leave the delivery mechanism per se, aredischarged onto the delivery table belts and by intermittently advancing the belts, are constantly moved forward in a staggered relation,as clearly illustrated in Figure 1, until the leading sig- 18 formedinthe walls and 7 upon an end plate 28, as will be readily apparent. I

Heretofore, it has been customary to merely provide an intermittentdrive for the forward movement of the delivery table belts whichfunctioned upon each operation of the delivery mechanism whether asignature was present or not, and as very often the machine is permittedto operate without passing sig-, natures therethrough, it is readilyapparent livery table, was not even nor continuous.

To eliminate this objectionable feature, the

present invention contemplates novel means for driving the deliverytable belts so that that the condition of the pile upon the de-' Y thebelts are moved only when a signature is actually being discharged. Tocarry out this object, the shaft 17 which forms the drive means for thedelive table-belts, has one end extended beyond-t e bearing bushing 18carried by thewall 5 and has a. ratchet wheel 29 pinned or otherwisefixed thereto with which 'a pawl 30 cooperates whenever it is desired toadvance the delivery table belts.

The pawl 30 is pivoted to the outer end of an arm 31, as at 32, whichextends from a sleeve 33 freely journaled upon the outerend of the shaft17. The sleeve 33 has its portion directly adjacent the arm 31 slightlyenlarged in diameter to receive a pinion 34 which, to prevent turningwith respect to the sleeve, is secured to the arm 31 and the flangewhich forms the base thereof by rivets 35.

Meshing with the pinion is a rack 36 formed on the outer end of a pitman37 which is maintained in its proper position by a member 38 freelyjournaled on the outer end of the sleeve 33 and having an elongatedtubular portion ,39 in which the pitman outer end is freely slidable anda central substantially circular portion 40 which surrounds the piniongear and forms a guard housing therefor. The pitman is thus maintainedin proper meshed relation with the pinion gear and 15 free to bereciprocated by means to be later described, to oscillate the piniongear and consequently the arm 31 to carry the pawl back and forth aswill be readily apparent.

. During forward movement of the pawl, the ratchet wheel 29 andconsequently the shaft 17 will be rotated to advance the delivery tablebelts whenever the pawl is engaged with the teeth of the ratchet wheelto which position the pawl is normally yieldably urged by a contractilespring 41 connected at one end with the free end of the pawl and at itsother end with ascrew 42 carried by the flange forming the base of thearm 31. However. as it is desirable to drive the delivery table beltsonly when a signature is actually being discharged, the engagement ofthe pawl with the ratchet wheel is controlled by the dischargingsignatures in a manner to be later described, through a mask 43 overwhich a roller 44 carried by the pawl tracks.

The mask 43 is substantially semi-circular in shape and is of suchdiameter that when in its operative position it maintains the nose ofthe pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel teeth throughout theentire range of movement of the pawl.

ihe mounting for the mask consists of an approximately U shaped lever 45medially pivoted from the wall 5, as at 46, and having a roller 47 whichtracks on a cam 48 having a high and a low period of dwell, to raise andlower the lever and move the mask to and from operative position, aweight 49 carried by the lever maintaining it in position engaging itsroller with the cam.

The cam 48 forms a central annular flange cordance with the widthof thebooks, the connection between the pitman 37 and the disc 50 isadjustable. A substantially T shaped slot 52 formed in the disc to'slidably receive the head of the pivot pin 51 which may thus be securedat any desired distance from the center of'the disc, forms theadjustable connect on between the disc and the pitman.

The rotation of the disc and cam reciprocates the pitman to carry thepawl back and forth and rocks the lever 45 to move the mask to and fromoperative position, the alignment of the low portion of the cam with theroller 47 permitting the weight 49 to rock the lever in a clockwisedirection with respect to ative position and allow the pawl to move theratchet wheel forward. The drive for the pawl and the operation of themask are thus positively coordinated, and to enable the performanceof-these functions to be properly timed with the discharge of thesignatures from the delivery mechanism per'se, the disc is rotatably adjustably connected with its driving means.

The driving means for the disc also mounts Figures 1 and 2, to lower themask out of operthe same and consists of a shaft 53 journaled in abearing formed in the wall 5 (see Figure 5) and to which the disc isadjustably connected by being clamped to a flange 54 on the shaft bymeans of screws 55 passed through counterbored apertures in the disc andthreaded into nuts 56. The nuts 56, as best illustrated in Figure 6,have flatted portions receivable between the outer periphery of theflange 54 and the inner-periphery of an inwardly directed flange 57 onthe disc 50 to hold the same against turning during tightening of thescrews 55, as will be readily obvious.

Rotation is imparted to the shaft by means of a gear 58 secured on theinner end of the shaft 54 and meshed with a pinion 59 fixed on thedelivery roll shaft 10, which also carries a gear 60 by which thedelivery mechanism receives its drive from the stitching machine in anydesired manner, not shown.

Again referring to the control for the drive of the delivery table beltsby means of the cam 48, it is see that the relation of the high of thepitman produces a forward movement of the ratchet wheel and the shaft 17connected therewith.

v The mechanism so far described, however,

This means consists of a plurality of fingers 61 secured to a shaft 62journaled in the walls 5 and'6, and having their free ends extendeddownwardly and forwardly between adjacent rollers 14 to lie in the pathof the discharging signatures carried between the peripheral edges ofthe pulleys 9 and the tapes the free ends of the lever to slightlyoscillate 11, whereby the passage of a signtureraises the shaft 62.

The end of the shaft 62 which extends beyond the wall 5 has a dog 63secured thereto whose lower end is stepped, as at 64, to cooperate witha stop 65 carried by the adjacent free end of the lever -so that whenthe'fingers 61 are in their normal positlon'and hang down beneath thepath of the discharging signatures the stepped end 64 of the dog will bedirectly above the stop 65, to prevent the lever 45 from turning aboutits mounting 46 when the lower part of the cam registers with the roller47.

- In this manner, operation of the delivery table belt drive isprevented except when the fingers 61 are raised by the passage of asignature therebeneath.

.As hereinbe fore stated, the timing of the delivery table belt drive isgoverned by the width of the signatures being handled and is determinedfrom the trailing edge of the book, as the leading edge reaches thefingers 61 at the same time irrespective of the width of the book.

The position of the disc 50 is, therefore, adjusted so that the lowerpart ofthe cam reaches the roller 47 before the trailing edge of thebook passes from beneath the ends of the fingers 61 to permit the lever45 to rock and raise its stop 65 before the stepped end of the dog 63 isagain allowed to return to its normal position above the stop. With thisadjustment each advance of the delivery table belts begins atapproximately the same time the books are discharged from between thepulleys 9 and the tapes 11 so that they strike.

.a moving rather than a stationary surface and thus insure moreefficient handhng.

Heretofore it has been found that. when relatively heavy books werebeing handled there was a tendencyfor their leading edge and a portionto follow the pulleys 9 and turn under. This of course, is objectionableas it prevents the proper discharge and stacking of the books one uponthe other on the delivery table, and to overcome this feature theforward roller 15 about which the tapes 11 are trained is verticallyadjustable to permit the angle formed by the stretch of the tapesbetween the roller 15 and the pulleys .9 to be increased when heayziybooks are. being handled so that they are ischarged in a substantiallyhorizontal line to eliminate the tendency of their leading ed es tofollow the pulleys 9 and turn under.

ertical adjustment of the roller 15 is accomplished by forming the sameof a length of tubing having its ends j ournaled on plugs 66 to befreely rotatable, thereon with the tapes 11. The plugs 66 are axiallyeccentrically secured to a shaft 67 freely journaled in suitablebearings formed in the walls 5 and 6 and the end of the shaft 67 ,.whichproects through the wall 6, has an adjusting member 68 secured theretoby which it and consequently the plugs 66 may be turned to raise andlower the roller 15. Y I

The adjusting member 68 has a handle 69 provided with a segmental recess7 O in whic uponbeing tightened secures the member and consequently theshaft 67 in any position of adjustment to which it may be moved by thehandle. As illustrated in the drawings, the roller 15 is in its positionof maximum elevation and is adjusted for books of maximum thickness,Rotation of the handle and the adjusting member 68 in a clockwisedirection with respect to Figure 4 causes the roller to be moved to alower position of adjustment.

To maintain the outer ends of the signa-' tures fiat against the table,especially where they have stiff covers which have a tendency to projectupwardly and to thus prevent the signatures as they are discharged fromthe delivery mechanism from being thrown between the covers, a pair ofwheels 72 are freely rotatably carried by arms 73 whose inner ends arefreely pivotally mounted on a cross shaft 74, the arm 73 beingmaintained in any desired position of transverse adjustment by collars75, as will be readily apparent. The cross shaft 74 is secured at itsouter ends in upright brackets 76 which are slidable along the side arms16 and are 'securable at any desired position of adjustment bytightening thumb screws 77.

F romthe foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art towhich an invention of the character described appertains, that I providean improved and novel deliveryascrew 71 is received, which whichdifferent widths of books are readmeans normally holding the pawl out ofenily accommodated and the tendency of heav-- ier books to turn underiseliminated. -What I' claim as my inventionis:

1. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismincluding, a conveyer, means including a rotatable drum for dischargingcompleted signatures onto the conveyer, drive meansfor intermittentlyadvancing the conveyer and trip means mounted above said drum-and innormal contact therewith to intermittently advance the conveyer upon asignature passing between said drum and the trip means.

2. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanism,includin adelivery table provided with a movab e conveyer, meansincluding a rotatable drum for discharging completed signatures onto then table, drive means for intermittently advancing the conveyer, and tripmeans normally in contact with said drum and operable upon a signaturepassingbetween the drum and the trip means whereby said conveyer isintermittently advanced when a signature is discharged.

3.. In a signature stitching machine or the i like, a delivery mechanismincluding a delivery table provided with a movable conveyer, meansincluding a rotatable drum for discharging the completed signatures ontothe table and conveyer, drive means for intermittently advancing theconveyer, a trip in normal contact with said drum whereby signaturesdischar g around said drum pass beneath the trip and the drum wherebysaid trip is displaced to operate said drive means.

i. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismincluding a delivery table provided with a movable conveyer, meansdischarging completed signatures onto the table and conveyer, pawl andratchet means for intermittently advancing the conveyer and means foroscillating the pawl, means normally holdin the pawl out of engagementwith the rate let to prevent its movement by the pawl to advance theconveyer, and means controlled by the discharge of signatures forgoverning the action of the means for holding the pawl out of engagementwith the ratchet whereby the passage, of a signature during its dischare from the mechanism onto the delivery ta le renders the means forholding'the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet inoperative topermit the conveyer to be advanced whenever a signature is discharged.

5. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismincluding a delivery table provided with a movable conveyer, means fordischarging completed signatures onto the table and conveyer, pawl andratchet means for intermittentlyadvancing the conveyer and means foroscillating the pawl, like, a delivery mechanism having a delivery 130gagement with the ratchet to prevent its movement by" the pawl toadvance the conveyer, and means actuated upon the discharge of asignature to render inoperative the means normally holding the pawl out,whereby the conveyer is advanced.

6. In a signature stitching machineor the like, a delivery mechanism,including a. de-

livery table provided with amovableeonveyer, means for dischargingcompleted signatures onto the table and conveyer, means forintermittently advancing said conveyer and drive means for the advancingmeans, andmeans for adjusting the time of operation of said drive meanswith respect to the opera tion oi: the means for discharging thesignatures, whereby the advance of the conveyer may be coordinated withthe discharge of the si atures.

In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismincluding a delivery table provided with a movable conveyer, means fordischarging completed signatures onto the table and conveyer, drivemeansfor advancing the conveyer, means. for driving the dischargingmeans, meansfor adjustably connecting the drive means for intermittentlymoving the conveyer and the drive means for the discharge means, wherebythe operation of the first-mentioned drive means may be coordinated withthe discharge of signatures.

8. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismincluding a delivery table provided with a movable conveyer, means fordischarging completed signatures onto the table and conveyer, means fordriving the conveyer, means for regulating the time of operation of saiddrive means, and means for adjusting the degree of travel of said drivemeans.

9. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismincluding a delivery tableprovided with a movable conveyer, meansincludin a rotary drum for discharging completed slgnatures onto thetable and the conveyer, means fordriving the conveyer and means normallyin'contact with said drum for controlling the conveyer drive means,whereby the conveyer is advanced upon a signature passing between thecontrol means and the drum.

10; In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanism,including a delivery table provided with a movable conveyer, means fordischarging signatures onto the'table and conveyer, means for intermit--11. In a signature stitching machine orcthe table provided with amovable" conveyer, means for dischargingsignatures onto the table andconveyer, means including a reciprocating pitman for driving theconveyer to intermittently advance the same, a driving disc forreciprocating the pitman, means for rotating the driving disc, and meansfor adjustably connecting the driving disc with its rotating meanswhereby the time of operation of said conveyer drive maybe adjusted.

12. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismhaving a de livery table provided with a movable conveyor, means fordischarging signatures ontothe table and conveyor and means including areciprocating pitman for intermittently driving the conveyor, arotatable driving disc for reciprocating the pitman, means for drivingthe driving disc, said means having a fixed relation to the means fordischarging the completed signatures, means for adjustably connectingthe driving disc with its driving means whereby the time of operation ofthe driving means for the intermittently advancing conveyer may becoordinated with the means for discharging the signatures.

13. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismhaving a delivery table provided with a movable conveyer, means fordischarging completed signatures onto the table and conveyer, meansincludin a pawl and ratchet for intermittently driving the conveyer,means including a rotating member for oscillating the ratchet, means forholding the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet to preventadvancement of the conve er, means carried b the rotatable member ormoving the pawl holding means to its operative position, means formaintaining the pawl holding means in operative position, and meansmovable by the passage of a signature during its discharge onto thedelivery table for rendering said maintaining means inoperative.

.14. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismmcluding a. delivery roll, pulleys and an endless member trained overthe pulleys and delivery roll for 'carrying signatures'outwardly fromthe ma-' chine, means for adjusting the location of the outermost of thepulleys with respect to the delivery roll to accommodate signatures ofdifferent sizes.

15. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismincluding a delivery roll, pulleys and an endless member trained overthe pulleys and delivery roll for carrying signatures outwardly from themachine, that portion of the endless member running from the deliveryroll to the outermost of said pulleys providing a guide for dischargedsignatures, and means for adjusting the angle of said guide with respectto the horizontal.

6 16, In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismincluding a rotatable delivery roll, pulleys and an endless membertrained about the pulleys, one of which is disposed above and outwardlywith respect to the delivery roll, said membercooperating with thedelivery roll to discharge completed si atures from the machine, andmeans for a j iisting the position of the pulley disposed above andforwardly with respect to the delivery roll.

17. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a delivery mechanismincluding a delivery roll and an endless member trained over thedelivery roll cooperating therewith to discharge completed signaturesfrom the machine and pulleys about which the endless member is trained,the stretch of the endless member between the delivery roll and one ofthe pulleys governing the angle of discharge of the si natures, meansfor adjusting the angle 0 inclination of the said stretch of the endlessmember to accommodate signatures of different characteristics.

18. In a signature stitching machine or the like, a deliver mechanism, adelivery roll, a plurality of i lers, an endless member travelmg aboutthe idlers and trained over a portion of the delivery roll andcooperating therewith to discharge completed signatures from themachine, the stretch of the endless 'member between the delivery rolland the outermost of said idlers forming means for

